Biography contributed by Katherine Blakeley
Mary Sizemore was born about 1848 – the daughter of Richard Sizemore, a cooper, and Peti Elizabeth Palmer.
Her mother died in 1858 and her father died in 1861.
Mary married Samuel White on 20 April 1871 at Blue Spur near Lawrence.
In 1877 they “took up” land at Merino Downs in the Waikaka Valley, north of Gore.
They had eight children and when Mary signed the suffrage petition she did so at Gore.
Samuel died at their home Mountjoy in the Waikaka Valley in 1913 and Mary died at her daughter’s home on 9 May 1915 – they are buried in the family grave in the Gore Cemtery.
Mary’s obituary said she “was a fine type of early settler, and her home provided a shelter and a meal for many a traveller in the early days of settlement in the district.”
Sources:
BDM online NZ https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
Otago Nominal Index http://marvin.otago.ac.nz
Papers Past https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz
Presbyterian Research Centre https://www.presbyterian.org.nz/archives/
Find a Grave https://www.findagrave.com/